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Marta Reyes says Gov. Rell doesn’t have the authority to close High Meadows.

Marta Reyes is suing Gov. Jodi Rell for trying to close High Meadows in Hamden. Reyes' son is one of the boys living at the state-run facility for sick boys.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in New Haven Superior Court this week, comes just days after a final decision was issued to close High Meadows.

The case alleges the Governor has overstepped her constitutional powers.

Back in February, Rell eliminated funding for High Meadows. Months later, after a long struggle, the Democrat-led legislature reinstated funding for the facility and the budget was passed.

A passed budget is considered law.

Despite the budget and a legal opinion from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal saying Rell didn't have the authority to do so, Rell moved to close High Meadows.

The state Department of Children and Families (DCF) filed paperwork to close High Meadows with the Office of Health Care Access (OHCA) — an agency charged with decision-making over health care facilities.

By doing so, "Governor Rell and [DCF] Commissioner [Susan] Hamilton have exceeded the authority of their official positions," states Reyes' lawsuit, prepared by Bridgeport attorney Bill Bloss.

After a hearing this fall, OHCA sided with DCF and issued a decision last week to close the facility.

"The OHCA decision, frankly, doesn't have much impact," Bloss argues. "The issue boils down to who has the authority to appropriate and implement the money to keep High Meadows going.

"That clearly belongs to the legislature," Bloss adds. "If Gov. Rell wants to close High Meadows, she has a procedure for doing that, and that involves the legislature and she hasn't done that."

But "the Governor retains authority to take action to close such facilities," according to a legal opinion by Office of Policy and Management secretary Bob Genuario.

Genuario's opinion was in response to Attorney General Blumenthal's opinion that Rell didn't have that authority. Genuario's memo says Blumenthal's letter "represents a fundamental misreading of the budget act."

Bloss is asking for an injunction to prevent the state from closing High Meadows.

A DCF spokesman would not comment on the lawsuit.

While the lawsuit focuses on Rell's lack of authority, High Meadows parents are still focused on how to get appropriate care for their children.

Thirteen-year-old José Flanders is "heartbroken" since he heard the decision to close High Meadows, says his mother Veronica Flanders.

"He's afraid and he doesn't know what's going to happen to him," says Flanders.

José has autism, mild mental retardation, oppositional defiant disorder, psychosis and developmental delays.

In short, he's a complicated case and too much for a single parent like Flanders to handle.

High Meadows is the only facility in the state to offer 24/7 on-site nursing care, and the only one that specializes in the kind of complex cases like José's.

José has been hospitalized more than 40 times since he was 8 years old, says his mother, and she was finally happy with his level of care at High Meadows.

"He's comfortable there and out of all the facilities I've dealt with — and I think I've dealt with all the ones in the state — this is the best."

That's a common refrain among parents, many of whom are stunned the state is attempting to close High Meadows.

High Meadows has room for 43 boys, but it closed admissions early this summer and began transferring boys elsewhere. There are only nine boys left.

The remaining boys will all be sent elsewhere by February. That's when High Meadows is slated to close.

Meanwhile, parents are faced with tough decisions.

In an interview last month, Marta Reyes, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, said DCF tried to pressure her into accepting a transfer for her son that she didn't agree with. Reyes was unavailable for comment for this article.

At the time, Reyes said she was told if she didn't accept that transfer, her son might be sent out of state.

Flanders, too, says DCF is pressuring her.

DCF is "trying to push me into sending [José] out of state" for his care. "I won't send my 13 year old to one state while I'm living in another state," she says.